Santorum & the Politics of FearSenator Suggests that Not Voting for Republicans Would Result in Another Terrorist "Hit"

In May 2005, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) raised a few eyebrows when, during a debate on the "nuclear option," he compared Democrats' approach to Bush's judicial nominees to Adolf Hitler in Paris in 1942.

Some of the cooler heads among us argued that Santorum was not necessarily drawing a moral parallel; he was only using World War II as an "easily understood historical reference." Maybe so.

Likening the times to the late 1930s as Nazi Germany was rising to power, Sen. Rick Santorum said last night that if he loses his re-election bid, it could set the stage for terrorism to become more of a threat than the Nazis ever were.

"If we are not successful here and things don't go right in the election, there's a good chance that the course of our country could change," he said. "We are in the equivalent of the late 1930s, and this election will decide whether we are going to continue to appease or whether we will stand and fight while we have a chance to win without devastating consequences.

"And you here in Pennsylvania — you here in this room — will have a huge role to play as to what happens."

What ?

In 2004, Dick Cheney told audiences that if voters backed Kerry-Edwards, the United States would get " hit again " by terrorists. It was one of the more startling instances of the GOP using the politics of fear — vote for us or you could very well die.

But Santorum seems to be taking matters considerably further. If Pennsylvanians don't vote for him, there's a "good chance" terrorists will start taking over countries and posing a Nazi-like risk to the world. Without Rick Santorum, the U.S. will embrace appeasement. Santorum will, apparently, single-handedly save civilization against a terrorist nightmare, which only he fully appreciates. A vote against Santorum not only opens the door to more attacks, it undermines the future of our very society.